Lean Deen: Mexican Chicken

As I was hoppin' around Paula Deen's recipe page at pauladeen.com,  I found a link labeled Kid Friendly, which holds tons of recipes that children can both enjoy eating and help you make. On this night, Mexican Chicken looked like the perfect choice. Because my daughter is only one, this was something I had to tackle on my own. But since it is intended for kids, it was that much easier. Most importantly, it looked and sounded delicious!

Sooooo... I reviewed the recipe, made some adjustments, added a few things and there we have it! A healthy, hearty, kid and adult friendly meal.

MEXICAN CHICKEN

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS:

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can Campbell's Healthy Request cream of chicken soup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can Campbell's cheddar cheese soup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can Campbell's Healthy Request cream of mushroom soup
1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes
1 cups leftover cooked chicken
1 (11 1/2-ounce) package WHOLE WHEAT flour tortillas
2 cups shredded 2% Mexican cheese
1 large green pepper; sliced
1 large red pepper; sliced
1/2 small onion; sliced


Optional (for serving):


* Fat Free Sour Cream
* Chopped Scallions
* Salsa


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by-9-inch pan with the cooking spray.

In a pan, saute the sliced onions and peppers; set aside.



In a large bowl, stir together the 3 kinds of soup and the tomatoes. Stir in the chicken.


Layer the tortillas and the chicken mixture in the pan, beginning and ending with tortillas. Also layer the peppers and onions with the chicken mixture, between the tortillas. Sprinkle the cheese over the casserole and bake for 30 minutes


RESULTS:
We thought that this dish was AWESOME!! Because my bake ware collection is lacking in some
areas, I used two smaller dishes.



This actually allowed me to make one with tomatoes and one without! Using two smaller dishes only required me to use 8 tortillas, as opposed to 10-11 (less calories!). One more thing that I did was to sprinkle chili powder on the chicken before baking it; adding a bit more flavor to the dish. As you can see in the picture, I served eat piece with a topping of salsa, sour cream and chopped scallions.


Try it out and let me know what you think of this leaner Mexican Chicken dish! ENJOY!

NUTRITION FACTS (per serving): 401 calories;  10.88g fat;  38.28g carbohydrate;  24.47g protein;  4.3g fiber

Lean Paula Deen: Cheesy Broccoli Bake

Vegetables were not my number #1 favorite thing to eat as a child. The solution: smother them in cheese! To this day, I still love to melt some Velveeta cheese over my steamed broccoli. Well, Paula has a wonderful, more "grown-up" way to completely cover this nutritious green veggie in creamy, delicious Velveeta. This side dish is called a Cheesy Broccoli Bake, which I found in the pages of her Lady & Son's Savannah Country Cookbook.


CHEESY BROCCOLI BAKE
Serves  10
2 pounds fresh broccoli, trimmed and cut-up
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter"
One 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts
One 10-3/4 ounce can condensed HEALTHY REQUEST cream of mushroom soup
1/2 pound 2 % Velveeta
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup grated FAT FREE Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Steam broccoli for 10 minutes. Saute celery, mushrooms and onion in butter for 10 minutes; drain. Combine broccoli, saute mixture and water chestnuts. Heat soup and Velveeta in saucepan over low heat until cheese melts. Pour over broccoli mixture. Stir in garlic salt and pepper. Place in greased casserole dish. Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle top with grated cheese.


MY SIMPLE SWITCHES:


* Use Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup
* Use 2% Velveeta
* Use 2% or Fat Free grated Cheddar
* Use only 1 Tablespoon of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.(This cuts 11 grams of fat & about 10 grams of saturated fat from the entire dish!)





When I made this dish, I left out the water chestnuts. Our family personally does not care for them, but we still like a little crunch. Instead, crush about 1/2 cup of Reduced-Fat Ritz crackers and sprinkle on top before baking. It adds a little texture to the broccoli bake. Overall, I would say this dish does extremely well when lighter ingredients are substituted. It wasn't missing a thing! I hope you ENJOY!!

NUTRITION FACTS (per serving): 137.2 calories;  5.1g fat;  16.17g carbohydrate; 11.25g protein;  3.4g fiber

Lean Paula Deen: Alice Jo's Spaghetti

In the mood for a little Italian? On this particular night, my family was craving some good-old spaghetti. What I love about this dish, especially in these times, is that it can feed a lot of people for very little money. Normally it is just myself, my husband (Rudy) and my daughter at the dinner table. But on this night I was also cooking for my sister and her husband. Therefore, I needed something that everyone was sure to like and plenty to satisfy our appetites.

I was looking for a recipe that was a little more sassy than a traditional sauce. On my search for the perfect spaghetti recipe, I stumbled upon Paula Deen's "Alice Jo's Spaghetti Sauce." The ORIGINAL RECIPE can be found on her website at:
http://www.pauladeen.com/recipe_view/165


MY HEALTHY TWIST:
The changes that I made to this recipe were minimal. Here is what I did:



* Use 90/10 extra lean ground beef
* Sub 2 tablespoons of Splenda for sugar
* Instead of regular spaghetti noodles, I used WHOLE WHEAT
* Topped dish with Reduced-Fat Parmesan cheese

This sauce was delicious! To complete the meal, I served this dish with garlic bread and a salad. No one left the table hungry and there was even enough for lunch the next day. A flavorful dinner for 4 for under $20...not too bad if you ask me! ENJOY!!